KITCHENER, Ontario — The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people exercise forever. Because of the restrictions imposed by governments, individuals all around the world were prohibited to go to the gym or public spaces to make their exercises in order to contain the spread of the virus.

Weeks after the restrictions started to be imposed, professionals from the health and wellness community started to think about possibilities on how to continue to share their exercises while people were not able to leave their house to do their workouts.

Different fitness trainings were created and developed by these professionals and many people were able to continue their fitness sessions while they were at home. According to a survey conducted by Wakefield Research, in the end of July 2020, among 1,000 American adults who exercise regularly, 90% of these adults said their home workouts were effective and 54% said their workout routine was extremely effective. The same research stated that nine in 10 Americans said they would continue their home workouts routines even after their local gym reopened.

In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic showed an evolution in terms of restrictions and many people were able to come back to their normal activities. Even though many individuals decided to restart their personal routines, part of the community still felt insecure and decided to stay at home most of the time.

Looking to reach not only the individuals who decided to continue to do their workouts at home, but the community in general, the official Instagram page of the Conestoga College Athletics promoted the 12 Days of Christmas fitness challenge.

From Dec. 13 until Dec. 24, the Conestoga Condors Instagram page posted workout videos in order to motivate their followers to continue to workout during the Christmas period.

“We all know the 12 days of Christmas, but let’s turn it into a fitness challenge! Challenge yourself to stay active in these two weeks leading up to Christmas and the holidays by taking part in our 12 days of fitness with our health promoter Tiffany,” posted the Condors’ official Instagram page.

Tiffany Aziz, a personal trainer, was the leading instructor in all 12 videos posted on the page. Different training sessions were presented by Aziz such as core, leg and upper body workouts.

The first day of the fitness challenge featured upper body exercises such as plank walkouts, mountain climbers and Russian twists. In the last day of the challenge, the page posted a workout session with exercises such as the push-ups to downwards dog, reverse flied, touchdown squats and lateral lunges.

The official Instagram page for Conestoga College Athletics has 3,368 followers and the fitness challenges videos had an average of 150 views during its period.

This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.